DIOGENES: In Search Of An Honest Politician!

DIOGENES invites you to pull up a chair on this rainy day and read
posts from around the world.
The writing may lean to the right...but that's the way Diogenes wants it!
You may leave your opinion,
but Diogenes rarely changes his! WELCOME!

Thursday, February 16, 2017

ANALYSIS: Border Wall Only Needs To Stop 9-12% Of Illegal Crossings To Pay For Itself

President Donald Trump’s border wall only needs to stop about 10 percent of illegal crossing in order to pay for itself, according to an analysis by the Center for Immigration Studies.
The estimated $12 to $15 billion cost of the wall would quickly be offset by the savings to the government if fewer illegal immigrants arrive in the country over the next decade, CIS found. Only a small portion of the population of people who are expected to attempt an illegal crossing in the next decade — between 9 and 12 percent — would have to be stopped for the wall to totally pay for itself.
The analysis from CIS, a group that advocates for moderating immigration levels, relies on fiscal estimates from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NAS) for the average cost to taxpayers of illegal immigrants. NAS estimates one illegal immigrant costs state and local governments approximately $75,000 in a lifetime, taking into account taxes paid and the cost of providing benefits such as education and health care.
If Trump’s border wall stopped between 160,000 and 200,000 people from entering the country illegally, CIS finds, the savings would offset the expected cost of the wall. . .

Will Vulnerable Democrats Drown in Schumer's 'Mainstream'?

Senate Democrats facing tough re-election battles in 2018 may have to decide if they want to hang a political anchor around their necks by joining a filibuster against Judge Neil Gorsuch, President Trump's highly credentialed Supreme Court nominee.
Predictably, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) threatened to filibuster Gorsuch in an op-ed on Politico.com and another in The New York Times, demanding 60 votes to confirm, rather than a simple majority as the Constitution allows. Schumer called Gorsuch "very smart, articulate and polite, with superb judicial demeanor" but not "mainstream."
Here's what Schumer thinks is "mainstream." "Senseless in Seattle and San Francisco" sums it up. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco upheld a temporary restraining order issued by a Seattle district court judge against President Trump's order banning entry into the U.S. for 90-120 days by those from Syria, Somalia, Sudan, Iraq, Iran, Yemen, and Libya.
Schumer should explain how judges, who aren't privy to a national security briefing, know a shish kabob from Somalia's Al-Shabaab, one of whose thugs beheaded a British soldier in London in 2013. Nonetheless, uninformed judges seized President Trump's plenary power in foreign relations and national security and substituted their ignorant opinions. Foreign nationals, who've never set foot in the United States, now supposedly have due process rights under our Constitution. It's all within the two left banks of Schumer's "mainstream."
Schumer should also explain why he now opposes Gorsuch yet joined in Gorsuch's unanimous confirmation to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ten years ago.
Gorsuch's record reveals his commitment to uphold the Constitution and laws as written, not those Schumer imagines. Consider:Judicial duty within the Constitution's separation of powers

“DAY WITHOUT IMMIGRANTS”

If you happen to be in Washington DC, New York City or a few other major metropolitan areas today you may find some of your favorite restaurants and watering holes closed. No, it’s not a national holiday that you forgot about which is causing either the doors to be closed or the facilities to be on reduced service schedules. Activists who oppose the president have started yet another online “movement” in an attempt to disrupt normal services. In a highly dishonest and misleading campaign, they have declared today to be “a day without immigrants.” (New York Times)

In a city where expense account meals are a central part of power players’ lives, some of Washington’s best-known restaurants will close their doors on Thursday in solidarity with a national campaign to draw attention to the power and plight of immigrants.
The campaign, spread on social media and messaging apps, has called for a “day without immigrants.” It asks foreign-born people nationwide, regardless of legal status, not to go to work or go shopping in a demonstration of the importance of their labor and consumer spending to the United States’ economy.
Activists and groups in cities across the country have picked up the call, reposting fliers found online, and in some cases organizing demonstrations to coincide with the event. Several activists said that they did not know how the campaign began or how many people would heed it, and that as far as they knew, there was no national organization behind it.

The fact that the participants are engaging in this tactic is perhaps not nearly as dismaying as the way the media is gleefully picking up on the story. Were there any honest reporting going on the New York Times and their colleagues in the mainstream media, they would be mentioning the fact that the entire premise of this campaign is fundamentally fraudulent. The organizers are encouraging everyone who is an immigrant “regardless of their legal status” to stay home from work today. The clear implication here is that all immigrants should be opposed to Donald Trump’s policies regarding illegal immigration.
This is not simply misleading, but rather an act of fraud. I have yet to meet a single person among the ranks of conservatives concerned about border security who is opposed to legal immigration or fails to value the contributions of those who come to our country following well-defined rules to make a new life. Further, the “disruption” they are seeking could be generated by targeting any demographic group in the nation. A day without women, without Jews, without left-handed people or even, yes, white folks, would result in what the New York Times describes as a “hit to the stomach.”
The truly nauseating portion of this is the fact that the entire concept is an insult to those who followed the rules, came to America and made a new life for themselves. This so-called protest is encouraging them to lose a day’s pay on behalf of those who refused to follow the rules and continue to break the laws set forth under the Constitution which naturalized citizens have sworn to defend.
But what the heck. Let them hold their protest, put a dent in everyone’s profits and bask in the glow of media adoration which will surely follow. Who cares if it makes any sense? There are political points to be scored.

John F. Kennedy: What Would He Think of His Party?

President Ronald Reagan said: "I didn't leave the Democratic Party. The party left me." Actor and former president of the National Rifle Association Charlton Heston, who called himself a "Kennedy Democrat," switched to the Republican Party after the 1960s.

On racial preferences, JFK, in 1963, said he opposed them: "I don't think that is the generally held view, at least as I understand it, of the Negro community, that there is some compensation due for the lost years, particularly in the field of education. What I think they would like is to see their children well-educated so that they could hold jobs and have their children accepted and have themselves accepted as equal members of the community. So I don't think we can undo the past. In fact, the past is going to be with us for a good many years in uneducated men and women who lost their chance for a decent education. We have to do the best we can now. That is what we are trying to do. I don't think quotas are a good idea. I think it is a mistake to begin to assign quotas on the basis of religion or race or color, or nationality.
"I think we get into a good deal of trouble. Our whole view of ourselves is a sort of one society. That has not been true. At least that is where we are trying to go. I think that we ought not to begin the quota system. On the other hand, I do think that we ought to make an effort to give a fair chance to everyone who is qualified, not through a quota, but just look over our employment rolls, look over our areas where we are hiring people, and at least make sure we are giving everyone a fair chance, but not hard-and-fast quotas. We are too mixed, this society of ours, to begin to divide ourselves on the basis of race or color."
On tax cuts, in a 1962 speech Kennedy said: "It is a paradoxical truth that tax rates are too high today and tax revenues are too low, and the soundest way to raise the revenues in the long run is to cut the rates now. ... The purpose of cutting taxes now is not to incur a budget deficit but to achieve the more prosperous, expanding economy, which can bring a budget surplus."
On dealing with foreign enemies, JFK believed, as Reagan did, in peace through strength, not strength through peace. In his inaugural address, Kennedy said, "Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty."
On the Second Amendment, this lifetime member of the NRA believed it conferred an individual right to keep and bear arms. In 1961, Kennedy said: "Today we need a nation of minutemen: citizens who are not only prepared to take up arms, but citizens who regard the preservation of freedom as a basic purpose of their daily life and who are willing to consciously work and sacrifice for that freedom. The cause of liberty, the cause of America, cannot succeed with any lesser effort."
Abortion was not an issue during the 1960 presidential campaign. Nor was it an issue during his presidency. Kennedy did say this: "Now, on the question of limiting population: As you know, the Japanese have been doing it very vigorously, through abortion, which I think would be repugnant to all Americans."
In 1971, in a letter to a constituent, John Kennedy's brother, Sen. Ted Kennedy, wrote: "It is my personal feeling that the legalization of abortion on demand is not in accordance with the value which our civilization places on human life. Wanted or unwanted, I believe that human life, even at its earliest stages, has certain rights which must be recognized -- the right to be born, the right to love, the right to grow old. ... Once life has begun, no matter at what stage of growth, it is my belief that termination should not be decided merely by desire."
On guns, taxes, racial preferences, foreign policy and abortion, John F. Kennedy would not be comfortable in today's Democratic Party. He was, after all, a Kennedy Democrat.

CNN reporter Jim Acosta said Wednesday that "the fix is in" between conservative media outlets and the Trump administration for White House press conferences.
Acosta's complaint came shortly after a joint press conference with President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"The two questions that were asked or called upon from the president in this news conference went to the Christian Broadcasting Network, which is obviously owned by Pat Robertson, the televangelist down in Virginia. It's a very conservative broadcasting network, and Townhall.com, which is a very conservative news website," Acosta said. "And so in the last three news conferences, all of the questions to the American news media have been handled by conservative press, and I think there's no other way to describe it but the fix is in."
"This White House, this president, does not want to answer questions, critical questions, about his associates, his aides' contacts with the Russians during the course of that campaign just as his national security adviser is being run out of this White House on a rail," Acosta continued. "I think that this only, you know, they may think that this is being cute or they think this is strategic in terms of trying to shield the president from questions, but those questions can only be shielded for so long."
The Trump administration has changed the way the media interacts with the White House. Many in the White House Press Corps were upset when Press Secretary Sean Spicer stopped giving the first question at press briefings to the Associated Press, instead choosing reporters on his own. Audible complaints have been made by larger media organizations, while some smaller ones feel that they are being treated more equally. The Trump administration has also debuted allowing questions to be asked at press briefings through Skype for reporters outside of Washington, D.C.

CNN’s Marc Lamont Hill, who is also a professor at Morehouse College, claimed that right-wing students incite riots on college campuses while discussing the Berkeley riots left-wing students over the appearance of Breitbart News’ MILO.

Speaking after the UC Berkeley riots, CNN commentator Ben Ferguson argued that campus leftists need to learn how to respond to speech with less destructive means.

“Liberals need to grow up on college campuses because people are actually getting hurt now,” Ferguson said the day after the riots.

In response, Hill suggested that right-wing students engage in similar destructive behavior on college campuses, but when pressed failed to back up his claim with examples.

Conservative Republicans Unveil Their Obamacare Replacement Bill

Simply titled the “Obamacare Replacement Act,” Rep. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.), members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) presented the new bill in a press conference.

“I think that's what's really represented here in this bill that a lot of folks have worked on, whether from the caucus standpoint or from Senator Paul's standpoint, is an inflection point,” Sanford said. “This is not about replacing the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare. This is about where do we go next in terms of health care so that people are in control.”

The bill entails a handful of different measures, including an elimination of the essential health benefits requirement, the creation of a $5,000 tax credit for individuals and families contributing to a health savings account, and the option to purchase health insurance across state lines.

“...a definitive plan that will address the concerns that many of my constituents and constituents across the country have raised with regards to the repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act.”

Meadows also noted that the bill was the “official position” of the Freedom Caucus and would serve as the companion to Paul's bill in the Senate.

Meadows added that their bill was much more in line with conservatives' plans compared to the replacement bill put forth by Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.). He thanked the two senators for bringing an alternative plan into the debate, but dismissed the idea that it is a viable option for conservatives:

“We believe that the Collins/Cassidy plan really just institutionalizes the Affordable Care Act in some ways that says if you like your Obamacare, you can keep it. And it's not a conservative — in fact I don't know of many conservatives that support that position.”

Paul praised newly-minted Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price for crafting many of their plans during his tenure in the House, which is what makes theirs “a consensus bill.”

“Ours is a bill that takes some of the things that Republicans almost all agree to — we don't take the controversial stuff — there's disagreement on the Medicaid expansion, there's disagreement on refundable tax credits, so we left that out and that's going to be addressed in repeal,” he said.

Joy Villa Is Just The First Wave Of The New Conservative Counterculture!

For at least a year now, I’ve been telling everyone who will listen that being right-wing is the new counterculture, the new punk, an act of rebellion in an era of political correctness, safe spaces, multiculturalism and globalism. Joy Villa’s surge to fame after shocking the Grammys with a pro-Trump dress has proven me right again.

Villa’s politics don’t seem particularly radical or dangerous — certainly nothing on the level of, say anarchist punk rockers. “For me, I voted for Trump, and a lot of my friends did as well,” says Villa. And we felt like we had to be closeted, we had to be quiet about it, or we would face a backlash, and bullying.”

“I just got tired of the narrative of hate — you’re a racist, you’re a bigot, you’re this, you’re that, people losing jobs all because they voted for a now-elected President. [With] this dress, I was hoping to make a statement, some small little statement about unity, togetherness, and supporting our President as one unified country.”

The Phoenix City Council on Wednesday turned down a petition to adopt sanctuary status for immigrants following a contentious and emotional discussion that ended with chants against the council. The council voted after hours of testimony from about 30 people that often became rowdy and emotional. A majority of people who spoke before the council favored adopting the policy, and many chanted "shame on you" after the council voted against it.

A poll conducted for the non-profit Secure America Now has found that Hispanic voters support prioritizing the deportation of criminal illegal immigrants and punishing the cities that do not turn in undocumented immigrants, according to the Washington Examiner.
The poll, which was conducted by Republican research firm McLaughlin & Associates, reported that 59 percent of voters approve of cutting off funding to sanctuary cities, while 29 percent disapprove.
When looking at respondents more specifically, the survey found that 46 percent of Hispanic voters support cutting off funding to sanctuary cities, compared to 43 percent who oppose the move.
When it came to deporting criminal illegal immigrants, the survey found larger margins of support.
According to the poll, 69 percent of Americans approve the end of "catch and release" as well as making the deportation of undocumented criminals the highest priority. 21 percent of Americans disapprove.
Hispanic voters also reported more support with 56 percent supporting the move, while only 31 percent oppose.
Among those surveyed, 33 percent were Republicans and 36 percent were Democrats. Hispanics made up 11 percent of the survey.

Hang on a minute. Isn't Trump right? We SHOULD try to be pals with Putin?

Less than a month into his presidency, Donald Trump's enemies are already scenting blood. They hope they have got him on the run over the resignation of Michael Flynn as his National Security Adviser.
Flynn was forced to stand down for secretly discussing sanctions against Russia with the country's ambassador to America in the weeks before Trump took office – and then trying to cover up his foolish and possibly illegal behaviour.
It is being suggested that Flynn's goose was cooked by the FBI and CIA, who had tapped these phone-calls, and gleefully leaked transcripts of them. Was this pay-back time for Trump's recent dismissive criticisms of the U.S. intelligence services?
And are the CIA and the FBI also conspiring against their commander-in-chief because they disapprove of his stated intention to try to mend fences with Russia?
Whatever the truth, Flynn was clearly out of order in discussing sanctions with the Russian ambassador, and then pretending he had not done so. He obviously had to go.
But it does not follow that the more constructive policy towards Russia championed by Trump and Flynn should also be jettisoned, as the CIA and America's military Establishment – not to mention much of the country's media – would apparently like....

Relax, Trump is stone cold sane

Let me issue the standard disclaimer of psychiatrists who discuss the mental health of public figures: I have not personally examined President Trump.
Now, let me put to rest the concerns of Sen. Al Franken and political commentators John Oliver and Andrew Sullivan and anyone else who publicly or privately has questioned the president’s sanity:
Donald Trump is stone cold sane.
When a man acquires billions of dollars through complex real estate transactions, invests in many countries, goes on to phenomenal success in television and turns his name into a worldwide brand, it is very unlikely that he is mentally unstable.
When the same man obviously enjoys the love and respect of his children and his wife, who seem to rely on him for support and guidance, it is extraordinarily unlikely that he is mentally unstable.
When the same man walks into the political arena and deftly defeats 16 Republican opponents and then the Democratic heir-apparent to a two-term president’s administration, the odds of that man being mentally unstable become vanishingly thin.
And when that very same man attracts to his team the kind of intellect and gravitas represented (to name just a few) by Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Dr. Ben Carson, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Defense James Mattis, a retired Marine Corps general and commander of the U.S. Central Command, he cannot be mentally deranged. Period. It is a statistical impossibility.

Chelsea Clinton voiced her outrage Wednesday night to her over 1.49 million followers on Twitter over a report that a six time deported illegal alien man from Mexico with a lengthy criminal record that includes a convictions for domestic violence and assault was detained by ICE last week in Texas.
The complaint lists eight criminal convictions in the U.S. for Gonzalez from 2010 through 2015. Gonzalez was sentenced to around a total of four years for the various offenses. Convictions included assault, domestic violence and false imprisonment.
This is who Chelsea Clinton and the liberal media want to hold up as a victim of President Donald Trump’s enforcement of immigration laws.

General Michael Flynn is a hero who dedicated his life to this country. His forced resignation was nothing but a political assassination from Obama’s insiders. The mainstream media wants you to believe that Flynn had some secret relationship with Russia but that isn’t true and the intelligence community just confirmed it.
After reviewing the transcripts, the FBI found NO WRONG DOING!!
“The FBI reviewed intercepts of communications between the Russian ambassador to the United States and retired Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn — national security adviser to then-President-elect Trump — but has not found any evidence of wrongdoing or illicit ties to the Russian government, U.S. officials said.”
Another current U.S Intelligence official agreed with the FBI and told NPR ,
“there is no evidence of criminal wrongdoing in the transcripts of of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn’s conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak,
The official also said there was “absolutely nothing” in the transcripts that suggests Flynn was acting under instructions “or that the trail leads higher.”
“I don’t think [Flynn] knew he was doing anything wrong,” the official said. “Flynn talked about sanctions, but no specific promises were made. Flynn was speaking more in general ‘maybe we’ll take a look at this going forward’ terms.”
So why aren’t we listening to the officials who actually HEARD the calls?
Don’t be fooled, this isn’t about Flynn discussing sanctions or anything else with Russia for that matter. This is about delegitimizing a president.
There is a reason why Democrats are still determined to investigate Flynn even though he has already resigned. They are using this as a way to prove that Trump was “in with Russia” and therefore an illegitimate president.
Democrats will stop at nothing to get Trump out of the White House.

REPORT: Obama Has Trained Tens of Thousands of Radicals at Alinsky Camps to Sabotage Trump!

Barack Obama taught the principles of Saul Alinsky while in Chicago. There is even this photo of Obama the community organizer teaching Alinsky to a classroom of students. The heading at the top reads “POWER ANALYSIS”. The sub-heading reads “RELATIONSHIPS BUILD ON SELF INTEREST”. The symbol on the arrow between “CORP” and “MAYOR” is the “$” sign.
Saul Alinsky came up with the idea of power analysis, which looks at relationships built on self-interest between corporations, banks and utilities. Barack Obama taught students in Chicago the Alinsky Principles.
Now Obama’s Organizing for Action is teaching thousands of leftists in Alinsky tactics.
Earlier this week Paul Sperry at The New York Post reported on Barack Obama’s attempts to destroy the Trump administration with a shadow government.

LIKENING TRUMP TO HITLER, JOURNALISTS UPSET NOT CALLED ON FOR QUESTIONS

Members of the mainstream media were left fuming this afternoon after President Trump refused to call on any of their organizations for the third straight press conference.
Yet many of these same news organizations have likened Trump to the Taliban and Adolf Hitler, floated false rumors about his use of a Russian prostitute, and accused his administration of being pro-slavery.
After Trump avoided calling on MSNBC during today's presser with Benjamin Netanyahu, MSNBC’s Peter Alexander complained that the conservative journalists he did call on didn’t ask “real questions” like he would have.
“What was striking," Alexander said, was that "President Trump, again, called on a series of more conservative leaning news organizations which didn’t allow for any real questions, trying to zero in on this issue of Mike Flynn, the now former national security advisor."
We can't speak for Trump, but one reason he may not be in a rush to give MSNBC more airtime is that they seem intent on using it to liken him to Adolf Hitler.
On Trump's Inauguration Day, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow likened Trump's election to "Hitler's rise." Her colleague Chris Matthews described Trump's inaugural address as "Hitlerian." Matthews also mocked Trump's family, likening them to the Russian imperial family, the Romanovs. He's so fond of this metaphor he now uses it all the time.
CNN reporters were likewise angry at not being called on during today's Trump presser.

EXCLUSIVE: How The Nation’s Spooks Played The Game ‘Kill Mike Flynn’

National Security Advisor Gen. Michael T. Flynn (ret.) — who resigned Monday — was the victim of a “hit job” launched by intelligence operatives, Obama government holdovers and former Obama national security officials, according to former intelligence officials who spoke with The Daily Caller News Foundation’s Investigative Group.
The talk within the tight-knit community of retired intelligence officers was that Flynn’s sacking was a result of intelligence insiders at the CIA, NSA and National Security Council using a sophisticated “disinformation campaign” to create a crisis atmosphere. The former intel officers say the tactics hurled against Flynn over the last few months were the type of high profile hard-ball accusations previously reserved for top figures in enemy states, not for White House officials.
“This was a hit job,” charged retired Col. James Williamson, a 32-year Special Forces veteran who coordinated his operations with the intelligence community.
Noting the Obama administration first tried to silence Flynn in 2014 when the former president fired him as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Williamson called Monday’s resignation, “stage Two of ‘Kill Mike Flynn.”

Will Trump Succeed In Restoring America, Or Will His Enemies Drag Him (And The Country) Down?

After barely two weeks in office Donald Trump has stunned the world with his «shock and awe» campaign to keep promises made when he was a candidate. The mere fact of a politician doing what he said he would do seems to have unsettled the nerves of his opponents. What is called «Trump Derangement Syndrome» is already reaching critical proportions.
Withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, ordering a start on his Mexican border wall, ordering an investigation into voter fraud (if conducted properly, almost certain to uncover widespread unlawful voting by non-citizens both legally and illegally present in the U.S., since no proof of citizenship is required to register), insisting he wants to get along with «killer» Vladimir Putin, and cutting short a call with Australia’s prime minister over Barack Obama’s idiotic promise to take in Muslim refugees that our mates Down Under don’t want themselves – all of these have infuriated the usual suspects.
But the declaration of war was his order to impose restrictions on entry from seven majority-Muslim countries designated as trouble spots by Obama with nary a peep from the progressive watchdogs of «tolerance» and anti-«Islamophobia». As Srdja Trifkovic has noted, Trump’s order is the first step in instigating an ideological test to bar jihad ideologues from the United States. (See «The Real ‘Muslim Ban’» and my «If He Doesn’t Like Trump’s Exclusion of All Muslims, Obama Must Exclude Advocates of Sharia and Caliphate»).
If Trump prevails on his exclusion order, he has the high ground to crush his opponents in both political parties – and they know it. That’s why the reaction has been both hysterical and cynical. Mainstream media, inveterate enemies of Trump and the American people...
(snip)